Carrying water for freedom
Hong Kong’s protestors are brave and, so far, successful. The Chinese Communist Party leadership must be kicking itself
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Emma Sergeant: Studies in untruth
Revealing how portraiture scares subjects who would prefer to be photo-shopped
A reckoning for justice
Thomas Grant's "Court Number One" reveals the changing values of the society which the criminal justice system ultimately exists to enforce
Charlie Chaplin à la Française
Louis de Funès may be France’s most beloved actor. The choice tells us a lot about those who love him
Emulation and evisceration
Noel Malcolm tells the story of western intellectual fascination with the Ottoman empire from the fall of Constantinople in 1453
An island that has forgotten the art of the backroom deal
‘Since the referendum, the attitude of the Irish government to the result—contemptuous, disbelieving, disrespectful—has grated. Leo Varadkar, a conformist individual, was in office at just the time when a fixer was what
Cast off the shackles of Empire victimhood
Blaming modern woes on past empires stokes infantilisation—condescension is colonialism’s last legacy. I’m proud of my CBE
Criminal justice chaos
'The problems that plague the criminal justice system are not rooted in an imagined “Leftist” criminal justice culture; they spring directly from the near-obliteration of the justice system by budget cuts of
Agencies of disruption
"Heidi Tworek’s shrewd, erudite and timely News from Germany is a work of historical analysis that can also be read as a corrective to the dangerous hysteria over the information games—fake news
An uncivilised place for uncivilised people
Dining at the headquarters of International Bland
Bank notes
Now he tells us. Governor Mark Carney of the Bank of England has been advising us on our investments. Be careful, he says. Before putting money in, ask yourself how easy it
Bedside manna
"Some doctors have an intuitive rapport. For others it’s a work in progress."